


showing up

by LiveLaughLovex



Category: Walker (TV 2021)
Genre: Future, Gen, Minor Grief/Mourning, Moving On, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29062371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: On the fourth anniversary of Emily’s murder, he finally put the house up for sale.
Relationships: Cordell Walker & Micki Ramirez, Past Cordell Walker/Emily Walker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	showing up

On the fourth anniversary of Emily’s murder, he finally put the house up for sale.

It was stupid that he’d kept it for so long. Walker could admit that to himself. He had gone on paying a mortgage he didn’t need to be paying, to hold onto a house he rarely visited, at a time when he should have been saying up to send both his kids off to college. It was a sentimental choice, not a rational one, and one his parents, his brother, and even the kids had tried to talk him out of making. He’d been living in the farmhouse with the kids since a month after he’d gotten home. Over time, they had managed to turn it into a home. Once that happened, they’d stopped even dropping by the old place. They’d left it empty, with all its contents serving no real purpose other than collecting dust.

He’d held onto it so long because of Emily. There was a part of him that felt letting go of the home he’d built with her would mean letting go of her altogether. The house was the first place that had been just theirs, without landlords or parents living fifty yards away on the same property. They’d watched their babies grow up in that house. They’d made plans for growing old in that house. It’d been the scene of so many moments over the years, both crucial and everyday, during those years he’d had there, with her and the kids. For so long, he hadn’t wanted to give the house up because he’d been dreading the idea of giving _her_ up, or, worse, of giving up _on_ her.

His wife was dead, though. Chasing down every damned dead end in that first year after her murder had done nothing to change it back then. Holding onto a house that hadn’t been a home in four years would do nothing to change it four years after the fact.

Both the kids were in college. Stella was already talking about _marriage_ , God help him, and August was planning to study abroad in France during the upcoming semester. His children had managed to move on with their lives while still holding onto their mother’s memory. It was time for him to try to do the same. To _actually_ try, and not just to half-ass it, the way it felt like he’d been doing it since the day of her death.

So, on the fourth anniversary of Emily’s murder, he finally put the house up for sale, and then, as soon as he’d left the realtor’s office and gotten back into his truck, he’d dialed Micki’s number and asked her to meet him at Geri’s. He offered her no explanation for the request at all. He figured it said a lot about their partnership that she hadn’t even taken the time to press him on that, instead simply agreeing to meet him there in fifteen.

He’d been grateful for his partner’s presence in his life an infinite number of times over the years, but in that moment, he felt just the slightest bit more blessed by it.

She was already there when he arrived, sitting at their usual table with an open bottle of beer in front of her and another across from her. A bowl of queso and a basket of tortilla chips had been placed in front of her, as well, at the center of the table, along with two of the crappy paper menus Geri refused to get rid of, and Walker couldn’t help but smile at the gesture, at her attempt to provide a sense of normalcy without even really knowing what was going on.

( _So_ damned grateful.)

She glanced up from her phone screen when he sat down across from her, studying him unnervingly for several seconds. “You okay?” she asked finally, her concern obvious in both her expression and her tone.

“I put the old house on the market today,” was the only answer he provided her.

“Oh. _Oh_.” She stared at him a few seconds longer. “I didn’t know that was something you were thinking of doing.”

He lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug, then cleared his throat. “Been four years since we’ve lived there. It was just standing there, collecting dust. There’re other people in the world. Other families. Maybe a young couple will move in there with their kids, give it back some of the happiness it’s lost. Help get rid of all that grief.” He glanced up from peeling the label off his still-closed beer bottle to meet her worried gaze. “It’s just a house, Mick,” he said, softer. “Hasn’t been a home in a long time. I just… I figured it was high time I gave someone else a chance to turn it back into one, that’s all.”

“And you figured that out today?” she questioned skeptically. “Walker, it’s…”

“Been four years since Emily died,” he finished the thought, finally taking a long swallow of the beer she had gotten him. It’d gotten warmer than he liked, and he couldn’t help but wince as he swallowed it and set the bottle back on the table. “I know.”

“Alright.” She still looked worried, but at least she wasn’t staring at him like she feared he’d fall apart at any moment anymore. “So, we’re hurting our livers midday because…”

He chuckled. “It’s one beer, Mick. Maybe two. If that’s enough to damage our livers, then I’d say they’re already pretty screwed, wouldn’t you?”

“I guess,” she agreed lightly, grabbing a chip from the basket and plunging it into the queso. “You know, I got this for you,” she told him once she’d finished chewing. “You probably shouldn’t let it get cold.”

He nodded, reaching for a chip of his own. “So, how’re things going with Trey? He ask you to marry him again?”

She took the change of subject in stride. “He did. I don’t get it. We love each other, obviously. We live together. Why’s he so hell-bent on getting the government involved in our sex life?”

Walker nearly choked on the chip he’d been eating. It took a healthy swig of beer and several seconds of gasping for breath before he could form coherent sentences again. “I don’t exactly think that’s what he’s trying to do, Mick,” he said after a moment. “Marriage isn’t just about filing joint taxes, you know.”

“Maybe.” She sighed quietly, shaking her head. “You think it’s weird that I don’t really know if I want to get married?”

“Nope,” he answered honestly. “Marriage might not just be about taxes, but that doesn’t mean it’s for everybody. You can love someone without a piece of paper giving you permission to do it.”

“That’s… thanks, Walker,” she said, touched. “That’s very progressive of you.”

“It might be selfish,” he admitted freely. “I’m not a fan of marriage myself, at the moment.”

She laughed at him. “Yeah, that’s totally different, Walker. It’s not that you’re not a fan of marriage; it’s that you don’t want your kid, who’s barely old enough to drink, to marry some guy she’s known for less than a year who calls you _dude_ every time you see him. It makes perfect sense to me.”

“It does?” he asked hopefully.

She nodded. “Yeah. I don’t want her to marry that guy, either.” She hesitated for a moment, then spoke more softly than she had before. “Are you sure you’re alright? About everything else, I mean.”

“I’m fine,” he promised, truly meaning it. “I just… wanted to have a beer with a friend, that’s all.”

“Okay,” she nodded, accepting him at his word. “Hey, I’m starving. You want to order some real food?”

“Queso _is_ real food,” he protested indignantly, even as he picked up both menus and held one out to her.

“Yeah, but you know what’s even better than queso? _Burgers_.”

“Are you going to get yours made with turkey?” 

“You’ve got to let it go, Walker, it was _one_ time.”

“I’ve never seen James look so horrified in my _life_ ,” Walker teased further, unable to help himself.

She rolled her eyes. “I was trying to be healthy. I failed. I still eat a lot of bread; I just do more cardio now. Can we move on, please?”

“Sure thing,” he nodded.

After a waitress dropped by to take their food order, they let the next half hour pass in a mixture of comfortable silence and teasing conversation. Just after they paid, though, Walker felt himself grow serious, and he looked over at his partner with a slight smile. “Hey, Mick?”

“Yeah?” she answered distractedly, scrawling her name across the bottom of the receipt.

“Thanks,” he said simply. “For showing up.”

She offered a smile of her own. “Like I told you four years ago, Walker, showing up’s what partners are for.”


End file.
